Augustus when was he born

Rome now in Italy Died: August 19, C. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. He established the principate, the form of government under which Rome ruled its empire for three hundred years. He had an extraordinary talent for statesmanship the ability to take an active role in the shaping of a government and sought to preserve the best traditions of republican Rome, the period in ancient Rome's history when governing power was in the hands of the Senate rather than the emperor.

Augustus was born Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 B. His father had held several political offices and had earned a fine reputation, but he died when Octavius was four. The people who most influenced young Octavius were his mother, Atia, who was the niece of the Roman leader Julius Caesar c. Unlike Caesar, one of Rome's military heroes, Augustus was sickly as a young boy.

Poor health troubled him throughout his life. Nevertheless his mother, who made sure the finest teachers tutored him at home, groomed him for the world of politics. By the age of sixteen he was planning to join his great-uncle and serve in Caesar's army. At this time Rome and the areas it controlled were governed by the Senate, composed largely of members of a small group of upper class citizens who had inherited their positions. The generals who commanded the armies that conquered new territory for Rome's rule increasingly challenged the Senate's authority, however.

One such general, Caesar, had basically become a dictator someone who assumes absolute power of Rome. The Senate strongly opposed Caesar, and in 44 B. When Caesar's will was read, it revealed that Caesar had adopted Octavius as his son and heir. Octavius then set out to claim his inheritance in 43 B. Octavian's rival at this time was Mark Antony c.

The vast Roman Empire, long contested by consuls and generals, was now firmly in the grasp of an emperor: Augustus Caesar. Like Darius I of Persia , Augustus was an organizational genius; his administrative accomplishments surpassed his military feats. He added senators from throughout Italy and empowered them to appoint independent proconsuls to govern Roman provinces. Augustus did maintain authority over the Senate, though, and exercised his veto power.

He confidently halved the number of legions and settled veterans in colonies, which helped Romanize distant provinces and consolidate the empire. Notwithstanding battles in Germany and other contentious regions, Augustus initiated a tranquil era known as the Pax Romana that held sway for generations.

Instead of conflict, Rome now imposed order. Lands once plundered by Roman troops became docile provinces, subject to taxation but spared devastation unless they rebelled.

Trade flourished. Cities prospered as Augustus and his successors built roads, aqueducts, baths, and amphitheaters to entertain the masses. Roman engineering urbanized provincial cities, helping transform conquered subjects into complacent Roman citizens.

Read why Rome's border walls were the beginning of its downfall. When Augustus died in A. For his huge contributions to Rome, he earned the posthumous title Divine Augustus. Through her Ptolemaic forebears, Cleopatra was Greek, and her capital, Alexandria, was the epitome of Hellenism. She spoke Greek but showed her Egyptian roots by learning the local language and worshipping Egyptian gods. With skill, efficiency, and cleverness, he secured his position as the first Emperor of Rome.

Augustus claimed he acted for the glory of the Roman Republic , not for personal power. He appealed to Roman citizens by claiming that he led a frugal and modest life. Augustus reorganized Roman life throughout the empire. He passed laws to encourage marital stability and renew religious practices. He instituted a system of taxation and a census while also expanding the network of Roman roads.

He founded a postal service and established a regular police force and fire brigade in Rome. Augustus expanded the empire, annexing Egypt, part of Spain, areas of central Europe, and even lands in the Middle East, such as Judea in A. These additions, along with the end of civil wars, fostered the growth of an enormous trading network. Augustus died outside of Naples, Italy in A.

His body was returned to the capital. Businesses closed the day of his funeral out of deep respect for the emperor. He was a ruler of ability and vision and at his death, Augustus was proclaimed by the Senate to be a Roman god. The United States is a republic. In 47 B. He was shipwrecked along the way, and had to cross enemy territory to reach his great-uncle—an act that impressed Caesar enough to name Octavius his heir and successor in his will. In 43 B. In 41 B. In retaliation, Octavian declared war on Cleopatra.

In that four-year span, Octavian secured his rule on multiple fronts. And to win over the people, he worked to improve and beautify the city of Rome. During his years reign, Augustus nearly doubled the size of the empire, adding territories in Europe and Asia Minor and securing alliances that gave him effective rule from Britain to India. He expanded the Roman network of roads, founded the Praetorian Guard and the Roman postal service and remade Rome with both grand a new forum and practical gestures police and fire departments.

His second wife, Scribonia, bore his only child, Julia the Elder. He divorced in 39 B. The family tree became more complicated after Augustus had his stepson Tiberius briefly marry his daughter, and then adopted Tiberius outright as son and successor in A.